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Ch Cons Ashman said: “This is categorically not the case. XY was not deployed by Northumbria Police to any of the parties, which the victims have referred to as sessions.

“XY was not paid to attend or arrange these sessions. On the contrary XY was directed not to go to sessions and was told that if he did he would be liable for arrest. His sole function was to pass on information about when and where sessions would take place.

“It is wrong to suggest that Northumbria Police in anyway put vulnerable women and girls at additional risk, or ‘prioritised intelligence gathering over protecting children’ as one commentator wrongly told the BBC.

“As part of the trial process, the judge commented there was no evidence to suggest XY was guilty of any sexual misconduct towards any of the complainants or anyone else.”

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XY claimed he was responsible for "setting up" suspects at the behest of officers, the police watchdog has revealed.

But investigators found "insufficient evidence" to support any misconduct case to answer for any officer and said there "were considerable doubts as to the credibility of the allegations made".

The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) said it does not play any role in sanctioning the use of police informants, adding it has no opinion about the suitability of XY.

The watchdog revealed the informant contacted Northumbria Police in January last year to say he had been providing information about an ongoing operation into serious sexual offending in the North East.

A statement released earlier on Wednesday evening said: "XY claimed that he had been responsible for 'setting up' a number of people at the behest of police officers.

"The IPCC investigation was focused on these allegations, and specifically on whether there was any credible evidence to support them.

"It also looked at whether he had been authorised and 'run' by his police handlers in accordance with the relevant applicable guidelines and procedures.

"The IPCC investigator found insufficient evidence to support any case to answer for misconduct in respect of any officer and that there were considerable doubts as to the credibility of the allegations made."